To pass the constitutional amendments, the government needs two-thirds majority in parliament, while it is short of 13 votes in the National Assembly (NA) and nine in the Senate

DNA

ISLAMABAD: The successor of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa will be picked from the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court; the government has proposed in its draft for the intended constitutional amendments.

According to sources close to this development, the government wants to appoint Justice Yahya Afridi as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. That is why the government is withholding the notification of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah as the new CJP.

The selection for the coveted post will reportedly be made by an eight-member parliamentary committee.

To pass the constitutional amendments, the government needs two-thirds majority in parliament, while it is short of 13 votes in the National Assembly (NA) and nine in the Senate.

The PP has already prosed a draft and made it public as well. According to the PPP draft the existing Supreme Court shall virtually cease to exist and if the package is passed the status of the Supreme Court shall be like an ordinary court.

The PPP package if approved as it is likely to turn the entire judicial system upside down. The JUI draft unlike seems more realistic and logical. It proposes a special constitutional bench within the Supreme Court instead of establishing a separate Constitutional Court.